I feel a little bad for J.J. Abrams. He spent the past year working on Super 8, a film that isn’t based on a pre-existing property, doesn’t have major stars, and wants to honor Steven Spielberg’s Amblin films even though it will also be judged against them. And all anyone wants to talk about is “Yeah, that’s all well and good. What’s up with Star Trek 2?” With Abrams still busy with Super 8 and the press that film will require, co-writer Roberto Orci (above on the right) is stepping up to talk about where they are in the script phase. Orci tells TrekMovie:

Just been waiting for JJ to be free to really decide if he likes the story and hear his suggestions before we finish the script. Once he says go, we’ll have it in no time. Meanwhile, our outline is detailed enough (70+ pages!) to do some prep.

I’m not exactly sure what a 70+ page outline looks like. It obviously extends far beyond plot beats and I’m left wondering what details are included. Hit the jump for more on what Orci had to say about the project. Optimistically, Paramount still has Star Trek 2 set to open on June 29, 2012.

Update: Deadline is reporting that Paramount is considering a Holiday 2012 release date for Star Trek 2 due to the script not being ready. However, nothing is certain until Abrams commits to directing the sequel, which should be very soon. Original report after the jump.

Unsurprisingly, Orci tells TrekMovie that Abrams has been involved in the development of the script despite his obligations to Super 8:

In the meetings we’ve had with JJ, he’s already given us amazing input and ideas, and that’s been while he’s been up to his eyeballs in Super 8.

Orci is co-writing the script with writing partner Alex Kurtzman and the duo will be joined by Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof who contributed to the story on the first Trek. Abrams told Gregory Ellwood at HitFix that he “hopes” to direct Star Trek 2 but he’s still waiting on the script. That’s an odd remark since Orci says they’re waiting on Abrams’ go-ahead to start writing the script that Abrams is waiting on. Still, with Abrams in the final stretch of Super 8, I don’t need the guy to immediately leave that film behind and start chatting up Star Trek 2. All the information on that film will be doled out in due time.